This invention generally relates to a fiberoptic splice closure for protecting fiberoptic cable splices, and more particularly to a fiberoptic splice closure having improved fiber management system.
The telecommunications industry utilizes fiberoptic trunk cables (0.125 to 1.250 inches in diameter) having numerous individual fiber-optic strands or fibers (e.g., up to 1,000 fibers to a cable). When the communications cables are strung or laid, it is often necessary to splice sections of these cables having multiple fibers. The communication cables sometimes get damaged during their use due to a variety of factors, such as high wind, storm, snow, etc. Also, fibers are very delicate (e.g, 8 to 11 microns in diameter for single mode), and are prone to damage. When they are damaged, it is necessary to splice together the damaged sections of these cables. Typically, a plurality of splices (e.g., 60) are enclosed in a splice tray, and a plurality of splice trays (e.g., 6) are enclosed in a splice closure.
A splice closure must also provide space for slack fibers. Ninety eight inches of slack fibers are required to meet the Bellcore Lab""s GR-771-CORE specification. The slack fibers are required in case of a bad splice or if damage would occur to the closure and/or splices. Once the splice is made and lines are strung on telephone poles for miles, there is no way of getting extra cable. Therefore, enough slack fibers are provided at the outset to meet all future needs.
The prior art is replete with various types of fiberoptic closures. Some examples of the prior art fiberoptic closures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,644,671 and 6,292,614B1. The prior art closures suffer from various drawbacks. For example, the slack fibers in some splice closures are stowed under the splice trays. Therefore, all the splice trays have to be removed when the technician needs to access the slack fibers under the trays for maintenance. In some closures, the splice trays are stacked horizontally on top of each other in a vertical stack. In these types of closures, the top trays must be removed to gain access to the bottom trays. Thus, all the trays in the stack must be removed in order to perform maintenance on a single splice located in the bottom tray.
According to the present invention, the splice closure includes a top cover, a bottom cover and at least one vertical splice tray removably coupled to the bottom cover. According to another feature of the invention, the slack fibers in the closure are stored around the perimeter of the at least one splice tray.
An illustrative fiberoptic closure comprises a first component having a sealing surface, a second component having an abutting sealing surface and a plurality of substantially planar splice trays configured to be removably coupled to the first component such that the splice trays extend substantially perpendicular to the sealing surface of the first component. The fiberoptic closure is configured to store slack fibers around the perimeter of the splice trays.
According to another feature of the present invention, a splice closure includes a top cover, a bottom cover and at least one end plate. The at least one end plate includes a first end plate portion, a second end plate portion and a third end plate portion. The first end plate portion is integrally formed with the bottom cover. A first securing means is configured to secure the second end plate portion to the first end plate portion to define at least one cable entry port. A second securing means separate from the first securing means is configured to secure the third end plate portion to the first and second end plate portions to define at least one cable entry port.
Additional features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of the following detailed description of the following embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.